Choices
by greengirl82
Summary: Sequel to 'Distance'. We're all responsible for the choices that we make... Thanks To: saturdayslump


**Choices**

Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with CBS or Criminal Minds, if I did, we wouldn't be losing Paget.

Summary: We're all responsible for the choices that we make, but what happens when you can't help but want to make a new one?

Timeline: Takes place six weeks after **Distance**

Sequel To: **Distance**

Special Thanks To: **saturdayslump **for the plot.

A/N: I honestly don't like doing sequels because I feel like put everything into the first story. But some people weren't happy that there wasn't a happy ending. So here it goes.

Thanks for reading, please remember to leave a review.

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><p>J.K. Rowling said, "It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more then our abilities."<p>

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><p>Emily slid out from the driver seat, grabbing her go bag as she and JJ quickly made it to the BAU jet.<p>

"Shit" Emily muttered, causing the blonde to look at her, "I left my charger in the SUV."

"Want me to wait with you?" JJ asked, shouldering her go bag.

"No" Emily said, "Can you take my stuff to the jet?"

"Yeah sure" JJ sighed, "Just lug me down like a pack mule, I don't mind at all."

Emily snickered, quickly returning to the parking lot when she heard the car next to her pull up.

Before she could stop herself she could overhear his conversation and what surprised her was the hostility in his tone.

Emily never would have taken Hotch to be angry until now. But as she shook her head, it wasn't her place to be concerned at who his anger was directed at, just as long as it wasn't at her or the team.

"I told you, I have to go" Hotch said, gritting his teeth, "Because we have a case."

Emily frowned, _'He's not talking to her, is he_?'

"Beth" Hotch said, headed towards the backseat, not noticing the brunette one car over, "Do you really think now is the time to have this conversation?"

Emily rolled her eyes, _'Trouble in paradise? Why am I not surprised?'_

It surprised her that she was still standing here listening to the one-sided conversation, when she had been dating Mike for over six weeks. That made her proud, how she had moved on from her unrequited crush from Hotch.

"I'm sorry, I told you" Hotch said, and that made Emily grab her cell phone charger and walk towards the jet.

"Beth, maybe when I get back we should talk about our relationship?" Hotch said, looking up to see Emily board the jet, "I'm not happy and I don't think you are either."

Hotch winced listening to the brunette curator raise her voice, "I've got to go now."

As he boarded the jet, he scanned the small cabin seeing Morgan and Reid on the long couch while Emily and JJ were looking over pictures of Henry. He felt his heart beat when Emily laughed looking at one of the photos.

"He's so cute, Jayje" Emily said, looking up when Hotch took a seat next to Dave at the table, both were across from the two female agents.

"All right, let's go over the parameters of the case" Hotch started, looking up when Emily's cell phone went off.

"Sorry" Emily murmured to the team, looking down at it and smiling.

"Are you going to answer that?" JJ asked.

The brunette nodded, standing up and walking towards the back cabin and laughs while Hotch watched on. Jealousy coursing through him.

"You know Prentiss" Hotch said, in a harsh tone making everyone look at him in shock, "Maybe you can talk to your boyfriend after we wrap up the case? Unless your love life is far more important than murdered children?"

Emily's eyes flashed a touch of hurt which made Hotch internally berate himself and before he could even apologize Emily quickly ended her call.

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><p>"Can I speak with you for a moment, Aaron?" Dave said, lightly shoving his younger friend towards the kitchenette.<p>

"You alright, Em?" JJ asked.

"Yeah, Mike's going to come visit this weekend" Emily said, smiling outwardly while cursing her hurting heart.

"What the fuck is the matter with you?" Dave hissed out, looking over at the two women, "Are you trying to get her to leave the team?"

"What?" Hotch asked.

"Another smart ass remark to her and I think she'd happily move on to another department" Dave told Hotch, "Do you want her off of your team?"

"No" Hotch said, "Look, I'm just having a bad day."

"And you're taking it out on Emily?" Dave asked, "From that tone, it would seem as if you're... You're jealous."

"Jealous?" Hotch said, "I'm not jealous."

"Things not going well with you and Beth?" Dave asked.

"Not really" Hotch muttered, "She's a nice woman, and I really enjoyed spending time with her but I just don't feel the spark."

"The spark?" Dave repeated then paused, "Look if you're not feeling a connection to Beth then you have to do the right thing and end it before any more feelings get involved. Not just yours, but hers and Jack."

"And Emily's" Hotch added under his breath, "I think I'm in love with her."

"You think or you know?" Dave asked, "I know this is a difficult situation, Aaron, but you need to decide what you want and who you want. Otherwise you're not going to do anyone any good."

Hotch looked over at the table, "I know who I want."

"Then don't be a jackass" Dave whispered, "If you want her, then fight for her. Prove to her that you belong together."

Dave walked back over to the table, starting in on the case, while Hotch took a seat across from the brunette who wouldn't meet his eyes.

After the team wrapped up the case returning back to Quantico, each member slowly leaving the jet, Hotch looked over to see the two female agents in a conversation.

"So when's Mike coming back?" JJ asked.

"His flight was delayed so he said, he's going to catch a train to D.C." Emily told her, "I'm just glad that he's coming in this time."

"I hope you two have fun" JJ said as the two women walked down the steps to the SUVs.

That moment sealed it for Hotch, he wasn't going to lose her to another man. Especially one that lived in New York.

Making his way to his car, Hotch heard his cell phone ringing, "Hotchner?"

"We need to talk" the voice said on the other end.

"Yes, yes we do." Hotch told the caller.

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><p>Hotch let the week pass, he knew that he had to go about this the right way, and to get what he wanted he couldn't go into this rushed or be spontaneous. He needed to be smart.<p>

Coming up with the perfect scenario wasn't as easy as he thought it would be, with all the factors in place.

Looking over his clean and quiet apartment, he was grateful for former sister-in-law for agreeing to watch Jack and her very big heart.

And for giving him the extra shove in the idea department. As much as he likes to think of himself as a go-getter he had drawn a complete blank with ideas and he'd hate to go after Emily with nothing.

As he pulled out his cell phone, he called her, and felt the loud pounding in his heart while he waited for her to answer.

"Prentiss" Emily said, breathlessly, almost as if she were in the middle of something, "Hello?"

"It's Hotch" he said, mentally berating himself for the professional tone.

"Don't tell me we have a case?" Emily groaned out, and Hotch heard a muffled voice in the background, "I'm on the phone."

"Tell them to call back later" Hotch heard the familiar voice, recognizing it as Mike Cutter's.

"Am I interrupting something?" Hotch asked, trying to keep his tone even, despite the fact he wanted to reach through the phone and pound the other man's face in.

"Shh, give me a minute Mike" Emily said, "I'm just a little distracted, Hotch. What do we need to talk about?"

He blanked, he didn't want to do this over the phone, especially not with Cutter being there so he did the only thing he could think.

"Jack's been asking about you" Hotch lied, feeling like an ass for using his son but he knew she'd never refuse Jack.

"Is Jack alright?" she asked genuinely concerned. Now he felt even worse, he knew her affection for his son.

"Can we meet tomorrow?" Hotch asked.

"Tomorrow?" she repeated, some muffled sound on the other end of the phone made him worry, "Sure, what time?"

"Noon?" Hotch asked, "We can maybe have lunch at that bistro you like?"

"The Green Leaf?" she said, he could hear her spirit lighten up at that, "Sure."

"Good" Hotch said, "I'll text message you later."

"But..." she started, only to be cut off by the dial tone.

"And that's how it's done" Hotch said, counting the points in his favor.

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><p>Emily walked out of the kitchen when she heard tiny paws making their way down the hall causing her to open up a bag of crunchies for Sergio.<p>

"Here you go," Emily said, stroking the cat's back before standing up and hearing a knock on the door.

As she walked over to the front door, she sighed looking through the peephole and opened it.

It was obvious to him that he had surprised her and that was another score in his favor.

"I thought we were going to meet at the bistro?" Emily asked, moving to let him come in.

"We are," Hotch said, "But I thought it'd be better if I picked you up instead, is that all right?"

Emily paused before nodding, "Let me get my coat."

Hotch stood in the door way and took in her apartment. Noticing a few changes here and there but otherwise it was the same.

He had been her a few times but now it was going to be different, after today going to be invited instead of being an unwanted intrusion.

"Ready" Emily said, zipping up her jacket, frowning when he looked at her, "Are you alright?"

Clearing his throat, "I'm fine."

Walking down the hallway that lead to the elevator, he vowed to himself that he would make sure that she knew how he felt about her before the night was over.

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><p>The two took a seat at the small restaurant, Emily took a sip of water it started to unnerve her that for the past few weeks or so that he'd become more observant.<p>

She mentally shook off any idea that he had romantic feelings for her, after all he was still dating Beth. Right?

_'Knock it off, Prentiss'_ a voice told her, _'Quit over thinking everything. Even if he is or isn't seeing Beth...'_

"Emily?" Hotch's soft voice pulled her from her internal battle, "Emily?"

"What?" she said looking up at his warm eyes, "Oh, I'm fine."

Frowning he nodded, as she noticed that he had placed his larger and warmer hand on her own.

"I'm really fine" she repeated, trying to free her hand but finding herself not wanting to, "So you wanted to talk about Jack?"

"Yeah" Hotch said, reluctantly letting go over her hand, "He asked me to give you something."

"Really?" she asked, a hint of surprised amusement in her tone.

"Here" Hotch said, pulling the folded paper out of his pocket, "I would have given it to you earlier but you appeared to be busy last weekend."

Her mind was too focused on the drawing Jack made for her, despite the young age of the artist, it was something she'd treasure.

"Emily?" Hotch said, "Jack misses you. He wanted to know if you'd come by his next soccer game? It's next Saturday."

"Sure" she said, "That little boy's got a special place in my heart."

_'So does his daddy, damn it'_ Emily thought before safely tucking the drawing into her coat pocket.

"Is there anything else?" Emily asked, "Because you know this could have been saved for Monday."

"I don't want to talk about work," Hotch stated emphatically, "This is about us."

Though that surprised her, his forcefulness she'd be lying if it didn't make her heart beat faster. She wondered just how over her crush she was?

Seeing the way he was looking at her made her want to go over and kiss him, but he was with Beth and she just started dating Mike...

She tensed, how could she forget the man who had brought her out of her self-induced pity party for six weeks.

"Emily," Hotch started, "For the past few weeks I've notice a change and I wanted you to know about it."

Her eyes shot up to his as he said, "I'm in love with you."

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><p>"I don't know how I've never seen it before" Hotch said, "But even before you came back I always knew that there was something there, something special between us. Something so strong that I know it's real."<p>

"Hotch" Emily started, surprised by his admission.

"And I've missed you so much" Hotch told, "I'm not even not including when you were gone, but I just miss having you in my life and Jack's."

"Hotch?" Emily tried to cut in.

"Please I need to get this out" he said, "I know you're dating Mike Cutter, but I'm asking... no I'm hoping that you'll think about giving us a try. I know this is a lot to ask, I mean we haven't even been down this path before. But what we have, this connection I know you feel it too."

"Oh God" she murmured, taking a deep breath, "Can I speak?"

"Just one last thing, please" Hotch asked, scooting the chair over, he reached over and pulled her into a kiss that made her see stars.

She could feel him giving everything in that kiss, deepening it that it made all coherent thoughts fly out of her head.

When he pulled back from the kiss, he saw that her eyes were still closed, absorbing the moment. And he leaned his forehead against hers.

"What we have, it could be so amazing Emily, if you just choose us." Hotch said, kissing her forehead, "We could really be happy."

Opening her eyes, she felt like a weight had been lifted from her heart and before she could even speak the sound of his cell phone pulled the two apart.

"Hello" Hotch said, not removing his eyes from the conflicted brunette, "Beth..."

Hearing the woman's name made Emily tense up, she grabbed her purse, shaking her head as she started pulling away from Hotch.

He could see her mask coming back on and reached out grabbing Emily's wrist, stopping her from running away. His eyes begging her to stay.

"Beth, I already told you we're not going to work out" Hotch said firmly, "I'm not in love with you, I'm in love with somebody else. An amazing and kind woman who understands all of me, and would never want me to change."

Emily took a deep breath, when Hotch brought their connected hands up and kissed her palm, "Please accept my choice Beth."

When he ended the call, he said, "I've always been in love with you, Emily."

Emily took a deep breath, licking her lower lip but said, "I need some time, Hotch."

As he was about to open his mouth to protest, she said, "I have to consider everyone's feelings in this."

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><p>Hotch took a seat in his apartment, wondering how he could convince Emily to choose him over Mike Cutter.<p>

He knew he had to be clear headed and rational about it. That the sensible man in him to said it wouldn't be right to just steal her away from the other man.

But the possessive and jealous Alpha told him to go to her apartment and fight for his woman, to throw her over his shoulder and claim her.

And he was slowly losing the battle of good versus evil, Alpha versus Common Sense.

_'After all, she was mine first, right?'_ Alpha Hotch told him, _'She was never his.'_

"Stop talking to yourself" Hotch muttered to himself.

He let out a collective sighed relief when he heard a knock on the front door, and felt hope sear through him when he saw the person on the other side of the door.

"Emily" Hotch said with a smile on his face.

"I had to talk to Mike" Emily said, not letting him embrace her, "I told him about the conversation we had over lunch."

"Ok" Hotch said, watching her slowly and hesitantly walk into his living room, "What did he say?"

"He asked who I chose" she said, looking around the apartment, "And I told him."

"Told him?" Hotch repeated.

"I told Mike that I loved him" she said, watching his face drop at that admission, "That he made me feel like I was worthy of being loved."

"Oh" Hotch slowly said, panic hitting him, "I understand."

"No you don't" Emily said, "I started dating him because you were in a relationship with Beth."

"But..." Hotch started.

"Mike's a wonderful man that I'd be lucky enough to be with, and I really do love him" Emily said, "But I'm in love with you."

Hotch felt his heart soar, "You're in love with me?"

A smile graced her face, "I've been in love with you since the day I met you when you were on my Mother's detail staff."

He walked over to the brunette, cupping her cheeks and staring into her dark eyes.

"Mike said he'd come down here again to see me" Emily said, watching Hotch frown as she placed her hands on his own, "I told him that even if we don't work out, I really do want to be his friend."

"And he accepted that?" Hotch asked.

"I think he's got a little crush on that Connie girl" Emily said with a smile on her face, "And that wouldn't be such a bad thing. Besides I already told him I was in love with you."

Hotch grabbed Emily, pulling her into a kiss as he spun them around the room before setting her down and pulling her to him.

"I love you, Emily" Hotch whispered, "I love you."

Emily tilted her face up to stare back into his eyes, "I love you too, Aaron."

Hearing his name fall from her lips, as he kissed her, made him believe that happy endings do exist and he found his own with her.

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><p>"There are always two choices. Two paths to take. One is easy. And its only reward is that its easy." Author Unknown<p>

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><p><strong>THE END<strong>

I hope you all enjoyed this sequel. Don't forget to leave a review.

And there will be no other sequels.


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